Death toll rises in Mexico massacre

May 14 - A Nuevo Leon state security official says bodies found dumped on a Mexico highway had been decapitated and updates death to toll to least 49. Travis Brecher reports.

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The site of one of Mexico's worst atrocities in recent years.
Here, near the northern city of Monterrey, suspected drug gang members dumped the headless bodies of at least 49 people.
The mutilated corpses of 43 men and six women, whose hands and feet had also been cut off, were found in a pile on a highway early on Sunday in the state of Nuevo Leon.
A security spokesman said a note was left at the scene allegedly identifying the perpetrators as members of the Zetas drug cartel -- a notoriously-ruthless gang founded by army special forces defectors.
(SOUNDBITE)(Spanish) JORGE DOMENE, SECURITY SPOKESMAN FOR THE STATE OF NUEVO LEON, SAYING:
"This is a manifestation of violence between rival crime groups. This is not an attack on the civilian population. It's very important to recognize that. It's definitely important to determine the motive behind all this."
Across Mexico, more than 50,000 people have died in drug-related violence since President Felipe Calderon launched a military crackdown against cartels in 2006.
Travis Brecher, Reuters

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